Friday, April 28, 2017

My Thoughts: And We're Off by Dana Schwartz

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31707102-and-we-re-off
And We're Off
by Dana Schwartz
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Publication Date: May 2nd 2017
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9780448493817
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Travel
Source: For Review

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Seventeen-year-old Nora Holmes is an artist, a painter from the moment she could hold a brush. She inherited the skill from her grandfather, Robert, who's always nurtured Nora's talent and encouraged her to follow her passion. Still, Nora is shocked and elated when Robert offers her a gift: an all-expenses-paid summer trip to Europe to immerse herself in the craft and to study history's most famous artists. The only catch? Nora has to create an original piece of artwork at every stop and send it back to her grandfather. It's a no-brainer: Nora is in!

Unfortunately, Nora's mother, Alice, is less than thrilled about the trip. She worries about what the future holds for her young, idealistic daughter and her opinions haven't gone unnoticed. Nora couldn't feel more unsupported by her mother, and in the weeks leading up to the trip, the women are as disconnected as they've ever been. But seconds after saying goodbye to Alice at the airport terminal, Nora hears a voice call out: "Wait! Stop! I'm coming with you!" (Goodreads)

My Thoughts...

When And We're Off arrived on my doorstep, I was definitely curious to check it out. It sounded like a really great summer read, and with summer quickly approaching it sounded right up my alley. I love a good travel story, especially when it's about traveling through Europe!

Seventeen year old Nora has plans to spend the summer before her senior year of high school traveling through Europe to study art and attending a very exclusive art program. Everything is going exactly as she planned, until her mom decides at the very last minute to go along on the trip with her. And so, there goes her summer.

I found the characters in the book a bit hard to relate to. I understand that Nora was disappointed that her trip wasn't to go as planned, but she was a bit overdramatic about it at times. And the mom was just really annoying. Being a mom myself I can usually relate to the moms as well, but not this time. I get wanting to spend time with your kid, but she just went about it the wrong way. I kind of expected their relationship to grow throughout the story, but I feel like that never really happened, unfortunately.

This book was a really quick read. I quickly became engrossed in Nora's adventure through Europe. I absolutely loved the setting for the book the most. I would LOOOOOOOOVE to travel through Europe, and one day I hope to actually do so. Not that it will be happening anytime soon, however, so I'll just have to fill the void by watching lots of foreign movies. *grin* I really did love the setting. The descriptions were great, and totally made me want to be there right along with Nora on her adventure.

Overall; And We're Off is a quick read that will be great to add to your summer reading list. If you're a fan of books with travel in them, you'll definitely want to check this out.

1 comment:

  1. This is not my favorite kind of book but I really think the cover is so cute. ^_^

    ReplyDelete

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